Business Process Reengineering Models?

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Luis Gutierrez
Junior Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

Business Process Reengineering Models?

Post by Luis Gutierrez »

Hello Jim,

My favorite way of doing process analysis and process reengineering is
using CLDs. I include only the relevant stocks, and the information
flows being used to manage the time behavior of the stocks. This leads
me rather quickly to identify:

1. Information flows that are open and should be closed.

2. Information feedback loops that are active and should not be.

3. Information feedback loops that are required but inactive.

4. In the information loops, flows that are broken (missing) or
defective (irrelevant, incomplete, erroneous data)

5. For each defective information flow, the root cause of the problem:
defective info emanating from the starting point, info being corrupted
while in transit, info being ignored/corrupted at the end point.

6. For each defect in step 5, whether it is due to physical connectivity
(usually 10% or so) or human error (usually 90% or so).

7. At this point, the process improvement project is either allowed to
continue or abruptly cancelled by upper management.<g>

8. If the project is allowed to continue, the analyst better proceed
very carefully, assigning "possible" physical causes to bad info flows
(bad databases at the start and end points are popular "culprits"),
while simultaneously making sure that management supports new databases
and training on how to use them.

9. It is critical throughout not to make management look like idiots;
else, there is a high probability that you will be fired.

I have done many projects of this kind during 33 years in industry, and
managed to get fired only once. The CLD analysis is usually so clear
that mathematical modeling and computer simulation are seldom required.
If correction of all the required information flows is allowed, and the
fixed information feedback loops become operational, process improvement
is readily observable in a reasonable amount of time.

Sometimes a report or presentation is requested, which is quickly marked
"confidential" for "security reasons". Few are published. But, in any
given situation, most "imported" models are useless anyway.

Rather than searching for available models, my recommendation to you is
to start with two blank pieces of paper: one to draw the "current"
process CLD (showing which feedback loops are broken, etc.), and one to
draw the "corrected" process CLD (showing the required feedback loop
structure for process improvement -- stabilization or growth).

Hope things work out for you,
Luis
From: Luis Gutierrez <
LTG1979@attglobal.net>
--
Luis T. Gutierrez, Ph.D., P.E.
Pelican Consulting, Inc.
http://www.pelican-consulting.com/index.html
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